Pages

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Earth Day Bento & Blog Hop

Earth Day will soon be here - it's April 22nd, 2012. My bento blogging friends are having a blog hop to celebrate Earth Day. It's my first time joining in on a blog hop- woo hoo! Don't forget to check out the bottom of the post so you can hop on over to the next blog.

Rose's "We love our Earth" bento

broccoli trees, cucumber flowers, carrot stick flowers, cherry tomatoes on the vine, animal crackers, clementine and strawberry flower, tree sandwich, bird cup with ranch dip, cheese sandwich tree, apple cutouts representing a small house amidst all of the trees and flowers & butterflies, blackberry tree with a few more blackberries tucked under the apple pieces

.

It's vegetarian. I couldn't quite make it vegan - she really wanted the ranch dip and I could not convince her to switch from a cheese sandwich either.

So how does all of this mean Earth Day to our family? On Earth Day we want to imagine and hope for an earth where there are abundant trees, flowers and animal friends and where we have reduced the impact of man's pollution on our environment. Our Earth Day pledge will be to plant a butterfly garden at our house. Looking for some ways that you can practice Earth Friendly activities in your daily lives? Here's what we do:

recycle (whatever is applicable in your area - for us it's only glass and tin cans), set the water heater at a lower temperature, wash clothes in cold water, use earth friendly cleaners and phosphate free detergent, pack waste free lunches as much as possible, minimise trash by buying in bulk and reuse packaging materials where possible, take your own reusable grocery bag shopping - not just to the grocery store!, use cloth diapers, compost suitable materials, plant your own garden and farm organically, buy organic produce as often as possible, buy locally produced items including food as much as possible -- reduces carbon footprint due to less transport time, conserve water, don't put harmful pesticides and non-organic fertilizers on your lawn, carpool whenever possible, turn off lights/TV/computers and other electronic devices when you aren't using them, do not leave charging cords plugged in if they are not charging anything - it still draws electricity, keep your air conditioning/heat at a moderate temperature or off, keep harmful waste and batteries out of the landfill (by following your area protocol for disposal), replace all of your bulbs with new low wattage, energy efficient bulbs, replace old appliances with energy efficient ones (as the need arises), eat less meat to reduce your carbon footprint (start small and aim for one meatless meal per week).

We could definitely work harder on some of these ourselves such as buying more organic produce; it is so expensive here it becomes difficult. If cost seems prohibitive in your area also, try to at least buy organically for the items on the "dirty dozen" list.